Scorching steam rose into the air, and the sea churned as though it had begun to boil.
When the flames finally subsided, the tower was gone.
The entire cliffside was coated in a blackened crust, like burnt syrup hardened over stone.
The dragon still circled above. Dokuro sat upon its bony back, gazing down. He was almost certain that Elijah and the Auror had perished, and a long breath of relief escaped him.
This dragon had been prepared in advance. They had ambushed and captured it long ago, fearing that Rookwood might bring too many men. Now, it had conveniently dealt with that terrifying wizard for them.
"Dokuro, how many wands did you get?" the goblin controlling the dragon asked.
Another goblin held the reins. This dragon had been raised secretly since it was a hatchling.
With the goblins' wealth, smuggling a dragon egg had never been difficult. The silver whistle Dokuro had used earlier did not rely on sound at all, but on magic to summon it.
"Only one…" Dokuro's expression stiffened slightly at the mention of wands.
The wand in his hand was the defective one Rookwood had given him. It was worn, its core partially exposed.
He hadn't had time to collect the wands Elijah had laid out before him. By now, they were likely nothing but ash beneath the dragon's flames.
"Those despicable wizards are truly hateful. They promised at least fifty wands, yet they broke their word," the goblin riding the dragon said bitterly, making no mention of their own plan to betray Rookwood.
"Wizards were never to be trusted. We knew that from the start," Dokuro replied coldly. "It's just a pity… we still can't decipher Ragnok's manuscript. Without it, Ancient Magic remains beyond us. The secret of Vault 12 will never be ours…"
"That secret alone is enough to trade for wands," another goblin said, glancing up at the sky. "Our goblin kin will reclaim what is rightfully ours from the wizards."
Above them, dark clouds gathered.
Perhaps too much seawater had been evaporated by the dragon's fire, because the sky had turned heavy and oppressive. Purple lightning flickered faintly within the clouds, as if a storm were about to break.
The thought seemed absurd.
No matter how powerful a dragon's breath was, it could not create storm clouds vast enough to cover the entire sky.
"The sea's weather is always unpredictable," Dokuro said dismissively. "Let's leave. An Auror died here—we shouldn't risk the Ministry tracing it back to us."
The other goblin nodded.
They had done plenty of illegal things before. Being discovered wouldn't be catastrophic, but now was not the time to provoke the Ministry.
He pulled on the enchanted reins.
The dragon beat its wings and climbed higher into the sky.
A dragon raised from youth was like a tamed giant. Though it had the strength to resist, it did not dare to disobey.
Boom—!
A blinding bolt of lightning tore through the sky.
Rain came pouring down, drumming against the dragon's scales.
The dragon suddenly halted midair.
It grew restless.
Its massive body twisted uneasily, as though sensing something deeply wrong.
"Quiet, you beast!" the goblin snarled, lashing its back with a whip. Dokuro joined in, conjuring another lash with his wand and striking without restraint.
This was a Norwegian Ridgeback, its body covered in scars.
Dragonhide possessed immense magical resistance, and its scales could even withstand non-magical attacks. Even Muggle explosives could not easily penetrate them.
To control such a creature, one had to train it from youth.
A young dragon, once it learned pain, would remember it forever. Even as an adult, it would not dare rebel.
But today…
Something was different.
It refused to fly into the storm clouds.
Instead, it roared continuously, as if warning of danger.
Even the whips striking its wounds could not calm it.
The goblins were nearly thrown off several times, which only fueled their anger.
"Dokuro, you've got a wand now. Curse its eyes—make it feel real pain!" the rider shouted, gripping the bone spines along its back.
But Dokuro hesitated.
Not out of pity.
Out of unease.
"Adora… is there something in the clouds?" he asked, his voice tight.
For no clear reason, Elijah's face surfaced in his mind.
That calm, composed expression unsettled him.
"Something?" Adora peered into the storm.
At first, he saw nothing.
But if anything in Britain could summon such vast clouds, it would be Dementors.
"Has the search expanded this far? If it's them—"
"No! It's not Dementors!" Dokuro suddenly shouted.
In the flash of lightning, he saw it.
A golden shape moving through the clouds.
"A Thunderbird!"
His shrill cry cut through the storm.
"A Thunderbird?!" Adora's face twisted in alarm.
As a Class XXXXX magical creature, a Thunderbird was no less dangerous than a dragon.
Though related to the phoenix, their powers were entirely different.
Phoenixes embodied rebirth and healing.
Thunderbirds embodied destruction.
And they did not belong here.
Thunderbirds were native to the Americas. They did not migrate.
For one to appear in Scotland meant only one thing—It had been brought here.
And it was furious.
That assumption wasn't entirely wrong.
The Thunderbird was indeed furious.
But not because of smuggling.
It was furious because it had just been blasted by dragonfire.
That Thunderbird.. Was Elijah.
Moments earlier, when the Norwegian Ridgeback had descended, Elijah had acted immediately. Dokuro had escaped by Apparating onto the dragon's back, but Elijah had needed to carry Tonks with him.
That brief delay had made it seem as though he had been consumed by the flames.
In truth, only the tips of his hair had been singed.
Now, it was his turn.
...
Dokuro and Adora were still weighing their options. Neither of them wanted to confront an enraged adult Thunderbird. There was nothing to gain, and the danger was immense.
The best choice was to escape.
But lightning moved faster than thought.
Elijah dove down with the storm, his talons slashing toward the two goblins.
Roaar!!
The dragon did not realize Elijah wasn't targeting it. All it felt was an overwhelming threat. It twisted violently to evade, jaws snapping open as it lunged to bite Elijah's throat.
Elijah had no intention of letting that happen.
In terms of raw durability, the dragon's resistance to magic was actually superior to that of a Thunderbird. A direct clash would be unwise. Elijah's advantage lay in his control of magic—and his mind.
He moved with the wind, slipping past the dragon's attacks with fluid precision, then suddenly struck!
His beak pierced straight into one of the dragon's eyes.
ROOOAAAR~~!
The beast let out a piercing shriek. Blood sprayed from the ruined eye as it thrashed wildly, its massive body twisting like a wounded animal. Its tail lashed through the air, claws tore at nothing, and flames erupted in all directions like a raging storm.
Elijah followed instantly with bolts of lightning.
The current slammed into the dragon's body, causing its scales to burst apart. In moments, it was covered in wounds, its hide blackened and charred, even its blood darkened by the searing electricity.
Dokuro had originally planned to assist the dragon with his wand, but once the battle began, he could do nothing but cling desperately to the creature's spine to avoid being flung off.
The world around him blurred into streaks of motion. He could see nothing clearly—only feel the crackling energy tearing through the air, scorching his skin, while shards of dragon scale blasted past him, ripping away half of his ear.
Then...
A sudden sense of weightlessness overtook him.
Elijah's lightning tore through the dragon's wing. The Norwegian Ridgeback screamed as its massive body lost control, plummeting toward the sea.
Splash! Boom!
A towering wave erupted as it crashed into the water, dragon's blood staining the bay.
Dokuro and Adora were thrown free by the impact.
Elijah swept through the storm, wings beating as thunder gathered around him, then shot toward the two goblins.
Adora was struck first—reduced to a charred husk by a single bolt.
Dokuro was not so fortunate.
Elijah's talons seized him midair.
His wand was gone. Half his ear was missing, blood streaming down his face. Before he could react, Elijah hurled him downward.
Dokuro crashed against the jagged cliffside with a sickening impact.
A scream tore from his throat. At least seven ribs were broken, and one arm was completely shattered.
Dazed and wracked with pain, he could barely comprehend what had happened. Just moments ago, he had believed Elijah was dead.
Then.. The Thunderbird descended.
Its wings folded. Its body shrank.
And before Dokuro's horrified eyes, it transformed into a man.